7 ms·

If you happen to be a welder reading this, either in training or in work, I have a small seed to plant: Practice best practices for 5 years and then come to th

by zhte415 12y ago

If you happen to be a welder reading this, either in training or in work, I have a small seed to plant: Practice best practices for 5 years and then come to the developing world. Practical, visionable, safety-first, disciplined skills are what moderately developed countries are shouting for, and you can call your price.

walterbell 12y ago
Which countries did you have in mind?
roel_v 12y ago
What countries are you thinking about? And what do you see as 'call your price'? Who will pay for a welder from another country who that doesn't speak the local language? In most 'moderately developed' countries (countries I'd call like that - much of South America, Eastern Europe, parts of Asia) many more people know how to weld than people in the US or Western Europe do.
- zhte415 12y ago
  Yes, there's a lot more welding in moderately developed countries, but a real fear over safety and quality of work. A typical story: 30 years ago few people knew how to weld, best practices, they just did it, and those new to welding learnt from those that taught themselves. 30 years later quality is far more important than 'just doing it' but there's a fear of not getting it done right, of having missed something in this period of self-instruction. You, as a German, Finnish, American etc trained welder, come from history of best practices developed by companies that can afford to pay for quality, and where quality overrides cost. You have a lot to bring an industry that's seeking to rapidly move from cheap to quality, from loosely fitting to international quality. And you're there to transfer expertise. Needing to speak the local language isn't important - the orders are for export to international standards and specifications, and that for domestic consumption follows the international standards anyway. I'm not a welder, but I know many who are. They're mainly experience with naval and nautical areas - oil rigs, ships, winches, etc in Asia, a lot focused in China, some in Middle East. Not just welding, this applies to any skilled engineer.
  - roel_v 12y ago
    I'm skeptical that a Western welder would command rates 5x or 10x above the national wages, which is what they'd need to be paid to substantially improve upon their domestic market value. And that's not even counting for relocation costs and time, living in another country with a substantially lower living standard, etc. If there really would be a market for this, it would happen. Instead, what I see is Polish welders moving to Western Europe, where they get some extra training, and after that are paid less than their local colleagues. Despite fear mongering like the GP, welding is a commodity skill, and yes they make OK money (compared to most other blue collar jobs) - but much of that is in overtime and even more so, in hazard pay. I wouldn't want to put on a diving suit and weld an oil platform I don't know how many meters below sea level - and judging from what it costs to get someone to do it, many people think the same. Lastly, and this is not to dismiss the skill of welding, but a welder is not an 'engineer'. Welding is a practical skill, not hard to get started with, and 90% of all welding jobs can be done by someone with 6 months of training. It's the few highly specialized jobs that take more knowledge and experience, and it's there that the money is. In that respect, welding is (dare I say it?) not unlike software development.

by zhte415 12y ago

walterbell 12y ago

Which countries did you have in mind?

roel_v 12y ago

What countries are you thinking about? And what do you see as 'call your price'? Who will pay for a welder from another country who that doesn't speak the local language? In most 'moderately developed' countries (countries I'd call like that - much of South America, Eastern Europe, parts of Asia) many more people know how to weld than people in the US or Western Europe do.

zhte415 12y ago
Yes, there's a lot more welding in moderately developed countries, but a real fear over safety and quality of work. A typical story: 30 years ago few people knew how to weld, best practices, they just did it, and those new to welding learnt from those that taught themselves. 30 years later quality is far more important than 'just doing it' but there's a fear of not getting it done right, of having missed something in this period of self-instruction. You, as a German, Finnish, American etc trained welder, come from history of best practices developed by companies that can afford to pay for quality, and where quality overrides cost. You have a lot to bring an industry that's seeking to rapidly move from cheap to quality, from loosely fitting to international quality. And you're there to transfer expertise. Needing to speak the local language isn't important - the orders are for export to international standards and specifications, and that for domestic consumption follows the international standards anyway. I'm not a welder, but I know many who are. They're mainly experience with naval and nautical areas - oil rigs, ships, winches, etc in Asia, a lot focused in China, some in Middle East. Not just welding, this applies to any skilled engineer.
- roel_v 12y ago
  I'm skeptical that a Western welder would command rates 5x or 10x above the national wages, which is what they'd need to be paid to substantially improve upon their domestic market value. And that's not even counting for relocation costs and time, living in another country with a substantially lower living standard, etc. If there really would be a market for this, it would happen. Instead, what I see is Polish welders moving to Western Europe, where they get some extra training, and after that are paid less than their local colleagues. Despite fear mongering like the GP, welding is a commodity skill, and yes they make OK money (compared to most other blue collar jobs) - but much of that is in overtime and even more so, in hazard pay. I wouldn't want to put on a diving suit and weld an oil platform I don't know how many meters below sea level - and judging from what it costs to get someone to do it, many people think the same. Lastly, and this is not to dismiss the skill of welding, but a welder is not an 'engineer'. Welding is a practical skill, not hard to get started with, and 90% of all welding jobs can be done by someone with 6 months of training. It's the few highly specialized jobs that take more knowledge and experience, and it's there that the money is. In that respect, welding is (dare I say it?) not unlike software development.